The invention relates to a flight conveyor of the kind which is arranged for conveying a material from one position to another one and which comprises a frame, at least one drive wheel and at least one idler wheel rotatably mounted on the frame, a number of segments for supporting the material, a number of shafts for pivotally interconnecting the segments to an endless row which has an upper and lower row part and is running, during operation, over the at least one drive wheel and the at least one idler wheel, and a number of conveyor flights for bringing the material along in the conveying direction.
Flight conveyors are generally used for conveying materials from a lower level to a higher level. The conveyors are, owing to that function, frequently called elevators. The orientation of at least a section of such conveyors is inclined. The flights secure the materials against sliding down the conveyor during operation.
The conveyors are inter alia used in the food industry for conveying e.g. piece-formed products such as feta cubes, paste stuffing and paste screws. Such products are often light and also sticky whereby the serious problem arises that some of the products adheres to the surface of the segments and the flights and in this way goes to waste.
The patent publication JP 2000085938 describes a cleaner device for a flight conveyor. The flights have a stationary position in relation to the conveyor. A wiper on one end of a rocker arm is adapted for intermittently scraping dust adhering to the flights. The construction of said known cleaner device is complicated and costly and the intermittent operation of the cleaner device is unstable. A satisfactory result can moreover not be obtained when the conveyor with the cleaner device is used in the food industry where the product to be removed is not dust.
A conveyor with flights mounted on links of chains is known from the publication GB 415063. The flights are angularly displaceable relative to the chains. The angular position changes when passing the sprockets between being perpendicular to the chains and parallel to the chains. The conveyor is adapted for pushing mass material forwards in a duct in the perpendicular state of the flights and back in the parallel state with a reduced cross-sectional area through a smaller return duct. This known conveyor is unsuitable for conveying products in the food industry. The shape of piece-formed products like e.g. feta cubes would easily be destroyed. No cleaning device for cleaning the flights for adhered material is disclosed.
EP 1826159 describes a conveying system comprising a conveyor belt provided with at least one guiding element for moving at least one module over at least part of the conveying path from a normal position to a raised operating position relative to the plane of transport of the conveyor belt. Furthermore, since the guiding elements are connected to the conveyor belt at several points, said elements are not capable of pivoting freely, but only to move at least one module of the conveying path. Accordingly, the known conveyor is adapted for conveying basically bulk objects, and is unsuitable for conveying object from the food industry, which will have a tendency to slide down the belt and be destroyed during the conveying process.